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Topic: Comic Book Thread (Read 67274 times)

Man, some days I really, really hate modern comic book marketing. I really, really wish we lived in a time where good storytelling could sell a book, not variant covers, deaths that don't stick, and constant issue #1s.

Or, for a silver lining, maybe this is my opportunity to make a clean break from DC and print comics?

"the new #1s will introduce readers to a more modern, diverse DC Universe, with some character variations in appearance, origin and age. All stories will be grounded in each character's legend - but will relate to real world situations, interactions, tragedy and triumph."

Does this mean they're ending the runs of Detective Comics and Action Comics? That'd be just wrong, IMO.

That was one of my biggest problems with the announcement as well. I've read the rumors of this happening for a couple weeks now online, and was hoping they would at least spare Detective and Action, even if it meant keeping them separate from the "new universe".

Of the new "plan", it certainly is bold and interesting. One of the bright spot is the Geoff Johns/Jim Lee pairing on JLA. That is something I thought that book needed for awhile now, and it could really be great. I noticed in some of the quotes about this new plan that the characters will be "younger", so it will be interesting to see what will happen with characters like Dick Grayson, Wally West, etc. and even the younger generation of Tim Drake, Bart Allen (or even younger, with Damian Wayne).

Didn't they just do this exact thing with Wonder Woman, and it was an abject failure?

I can't even count the number of times DC has tried to "reboot" their main continuity lately - Infinite Crisis, 52, Final Crisis, Flashpoint, etc. Seems like every other year someone is doing something that creates a brand new continuity for someone.

My biggest gripe with the "let's reboot everyone" is WTF did they waste the last two years on stories that brought back a whole bunch of Silver Age characters and return things to 1980s continuity if they were just going to blow it all up again? Oh yeah - one last $$$$$$$$ grab at the fans like me.

Yeah, I'm not sure what to think, and I can see why people are upset (particularly long time DC fans). It seems like DC has been trying to "clean things up" with their universe for awhile now (like Jeff mentioned), and maybe they just finally decided to do a wholesale change and see what happens. I'm very curious to see what this means for a lot of characters/books, as many are I'm sure. I will say I'm excited for the new Justice League book, simply because of the writer/artist team and the fact that we're finally getting the big guns in there again. That book has been boring for the past few years+. Outside of that, I'm most curious to see what is happening with the Batman/GL books. It sounds like Johns will stay on GL, so I'm sure it is in good hands...but I've really been enjoying both Batman and Robin and Batman, Inc. and I'm curious if those will be staying or not. I've seen a rumor that Grant Morrisson will be writing the new Superman book, so I wonder if that means he's off Batman. We'll see. Like Jeff said, it seems like they've got a lot of good things built up over the past couple years and now they're going to have to blow it up again. I'm sure it will boost their sales, at least initially, but I wonder what the lasting impact will be.

Outside of that, I'm most curious to see what is happening with the Batman/GL books.

Man, there are all sorts of rumors out there today... the biggest two being Superman single and dating WW and then The Teen Titans being rebooted all the way back to the 70s - Dick (Robin), Wally (Kid Flash), Donna (Wonder Girl), Garth (Aqualad).

I admit that I'm more curious today to learn how all this is playing out, but I am still annoyed with DC and the constant reboots. Even this... is it a ploy to "reboot" everything for a while and next summer we'll once again be "doing something dramatic that changes everything", which ultimately ends up setting the majority of the DCU back to it's 70+ year continuity? I mean, at this point I have no trust in DC. They say "OMG, we're rebooting for a fresh new start d00dz", but they have said that a whole bunch of times before...

Is this a "real" reboot or just the latest in a long line of One Year Later, 'you won't believe what we're doing this time' reboot stunts?

Man, there are all sorts of rumors out there today... the biggest two being Superman single and dating WW and then The Teen Titans being rebooted all the way back to the 70s - Dick (Robin), Wally (Kid Flash), Donna (Wonder Girl), Garth (Aqualad).

I sort of get the feeling that might be where things are headed as well, with characters like Dick and Wally heading back to their original "sidekick" personas, and perhaps even seeing Barbara Gordon as Batgirl again. I'm not sure how I feel about something like that. On one hand, you're sort of just getting rid of any character growth of these characters (like Dick from Robin to Nightwing to (a) Batman), but on the other hand - as a Batman fan - my favorite "era" is when Bruce was Bats, Dick was Robin, and Babs was Batgirl. It sort of echoes back to Batman: TAS being my favorite version of Batman. That being said, I've really been enjoying the Bat-books lately (particularly B & R and Batman Inc.), and it would be sort of sad to see that go away. They've actually grown Damian Wayne into a pretty interesting character, not to mention someone like Tim Drake. I'm curious, if this de-aging does happen, what will happen to that third/fourth/etc. generation characters like that.

It sort of seems like - if some of these rumors are true - that they're just picking and choosing to make what they feel is the "best". You can see from the JLA promo pic that Cyborg has graduated to the JLA, and recent comments make it sound like they'd really like to push him up towards the "big leagues", so you could possibly have Cyborg graduating to the JLA, but Dick/Wally/etc. de-aged and back on the Titans. Also, if the whole breaking up Clark and Lois thing is true (not to mention the WW rumor), I could see a LOT of complaining. This is from a Spidey fan who went through the whole OMD debacle, and although it stunk, that was just one character - this is an entire line. I can see some reasons why DC would want to do this, but it is definitely a risk. I'm really interested to learn more about the books when the Sept. solicits come out in a couple weeks. Hopefully they aren't all classified .

Also, I'm not one that has bought any digital books, but that is obviously a big part of this revamp as well - the whole "day and date digital availability". I wonder if it will make the splash they are hoping or not. Obviously the goal is to get new readers, and digital distribution is the way of the (eventual) future, but I'm wondering how much of a difference it will make right now. I give them credit for being bold and trying something like this though. The one thing about the whole reboot though - although we don't know many of the details yet, if they are doing this (and they are), they just as well do everything necessary right now. Hopefully make it "ground floor" enough so they don't have to do it again in a year, two years, or more. I know all the #1's are to cater to "accessability", but after five years you've got 60 issues built up of any particular title anyways, already daunting to a new reader. I remember reading a Grant Morrisson interview within the past couple years where he thought comics (and how he thought of his own writing) should be written in "seasons" like television. Have a 12-13 issue season, then start "Volume 2, Issue 1". An interesting concept, and if they're going to reboot the whole line anyways, it might not be a bad idea (but still, put Detective and Action back to their normal numbers and let them operate outside of it).

On one hand, you're sort of just getting rid of any character growth of these characters (like Dick from Robin to Nightwing to (a) Batman)...[snip]... it would be sort of sad to see that go away. They've actually grown Damian Wayne into a pretty interesting character, not to mention someone like Tim Drake. I'm curious, if this de-aging does happen, what will happen to that third/fourth/etc. generation characters like that.

Just look at Batman and Flash in recent 2-3 years. DC wanted a "new young Batman and Robin" to market, so they cleared the way for Dick/Batman & Damian/Robin. Only they still had to sevice us 25+ year DC guys, so they brough back Bruce and tried to do both versions.

And same with Flash. Wally gets married. Then Wally tries to make the world forget he's the Flash to get a secret identity again (reboot). Then he has kids. Then Bart gets aged up so Wally can retire (reboot with new #1). Then Bart dies and Wally comes back, with speed-aged kids (reboot, back to Wally's #ing). Then Barry comes back and Wally is gone again (reboot with a new #1). Then, Bart comes back. Once again, we have DC trying to do what they want (Barry/Flash and Bart/Kid Flash), but trying to make the old timers happy (Wally/Flash... who showed up in like 2 issues so far this past year).

Now Flashpoint and... REBOOT (with yet another #1).

It is really sounding to me like this is an effort to get the best of both worlds - they get the "young and hip" Batman and Robin they want AND they get to keep the names that everyone knows (Bruce and Dick). What does that mean for Damian, Stephanie, Tim, etc? I don't know...

Nice to get a little information on the titles, and hopefully they'll continue to sprinkle out more in the coming days (specifically the Batman and GL titles). Of the ones listed here (including the already announced Justice League), I think the ones I would consider checking out Justice League, Aquaman, and the Flash.

- I assume it's obvious that the Flash is Barry, but I think it's interesting that it isn't spelled out anywhere... nor any mention of a "Kid Flash" or anyone else. Have to keep everyone guessing I suppose... I'm sure it will come out eventually, but I wish they'd just come out and tell us who's staying, who's going, and who is changing...

- wow, they really did a number on Firestorm - Ronnie Roush is de-aged to a high schooler (goodbye "Ronnie's an alcoholic" continuity ) and the whole Firestorm origin looks like the one from the Batman: Brave and Bold cartoon (where Jason and Ronnie are merged in a school accident) instead of the classic origin.

- The 'Savage' Hawkman?

- Mister Terrific gets his own book... wonder what that means for the JSA and the "old" heroes?

The whole thing still pisses me off more than it excites me... but I'm willing to wait to see everything that is planned before I decide to stay or quit.

Other than a short stint reading Superman back in the early 90's (yes, his death pulled me in), I've never read any of the DC books and that was mostly because the history and reboots and Crisis events made everything so muddled.

I'm wondering if this #1 reboot will be a place where I'd be able to jump in. I'd like to read Green Arrow but never felt like jumping into the middle of whatever was going on at the time, so I might actually check out that book.

I think the more important event, as others have said, is the simultaneous digital release. I'd have to think that some of the smaller comic shops, especially those that are mainly comics and don't get into toys, games, statues, etc, have to be worried about this. Even with DC offering a way for the stores to share in the digital revenue, if I owned a shop I'd be very nervous.

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